The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 26th April 2009 by Robin Hawkins
"Being A Missionary Church"
"Being A Missionary Church"
Reading: Matt 28:19-20; 1Cor 9:16-23
I was stirred this week by the need to remind ourselves of the strategy that I believe God's given us for reaching out to others with the gospel. It's on the website; and LG leaders know about it; but I have this sneaking suspicion that the majority of us probably don't.
I'm personally convinced that God has given us promises of growth. But I was reminded this last week that God doesn't usually give us these things on a plate. We have to fight for them. We have to go and take possession of them. God had promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites, but they had to go in and fight for it to take possession of it. So too, I believe God has challenged us to believe Him for growth. But we need a plan of action if we're going to see it happen.
A growing church should have a regular inflow of new Believers. Quite apart from anything else, you're a wonderful reminder to us of what we're about. You keep us on out spiritual toes. When you come into the Life Groups, we can't use our spiritual jargon without explaining what it means - and that can be a challenge! If you're a new Believer here this morning, we're really glad to have you! But Church, we need to work together to ensure new Believers are frequently being added to us. We are all called to be witnesses, but one of the things we learnt on BYC is that we do this in different ways.
Some of us are good with Words. We can present the gospel clearly, giving good reasons why we believe what we do. Others seem to be able to strike up a conversation about the gospel very easily.
Others of us share the gospel by what we do - our Works. Expressions of practical support and acts of kindness come easily to us - a hospital visit, help moving house, etc.
Complimenting these are the Wonders of God. This is where we have faith to bring the power of God to bear on the lives of people we meet. Healing, supply...
Our goal is to bring people to know Christ. We need to be willing to do whatever it takes. But the first step to recognise is that there is a process involved. Even Paul with his dramatic Damascus Road conversion had been in a process up to this point. Starting with Steven's death, God had been on his case.
Not everyone we talk to is going to make a decision to follow Jesus there and then. All of us need time to think it through. People want to to know that we're for real, and that our love for them is real. People aren't projects, they're human beings, made to know God. So I want to start by getting us to ask the question: "What is successful evangelism?"
The fact is that people have a lot of misconceptions about God and about Christians. Try telling people that God's a Father, and that's likely to be a turn-off for many. Ask them if they believe in God, and if so, what kind of God they believe in, and you might get answers like: "Unloving, Distant, impersonal, Judging, Sugar-daddy, monster...
If you then ask them what they think about Christians, you'll often find again the answers are negative: Hypocrites, Weirdoes, Kill-joys, Judgemental, Do-gooders
Successful evangelism starts by helping people to see these perceptions are wrong, that actually, God's OK, and we're OK. So, many people are on a journey of discovery. Like seed in the ground, it takes time to grow.
Many of you will have seen this awareness scale that illustrates this process:
-1. Decision to surrender to Christ
-2. Acceptance of the implications
-3. Acceptance of Christian truth
-4. Understand the practical implications of this.
-5. Grasp the truth about Jesus
-6. Decide to investigate Jesus
-7. Interest in Jesus Christ
-8. Contact with Christians
-9. Some awareness of God
-10. No awareness of God
I'm going to suggest to you that successful evangelism is helping people up this scale. In John 4:38, Jesus teaches us that one sows while another reaps. Not everyone is involved in that final step of commitment to Christ; but we're all part of the process, and we can help people by knowing what we're aiming at, and planning accordingly. The P. of the Sower teaches us that sowing seed is a very wasteful business. For every person who gives their life to Christ, there will probably be ten or more who don't get that far up the scale. So we're all going to have to be involved at the bottom end of the scale, and sow seed profusely amongst people who have very little awareness of God.
So here's how to do it. You may have heard me refer to the B/Ch who insisted that people coming into membership were members of another social club - running, tennis, golf, Round Table. That's where we'll mix with people who don't know God. So what do you enjoy doing? If you're too busy with activities in the church to engage with people outside the church, we may need to think through how we allocate our spare time.
So there you are, mixing with a lot of people who don't have God in their lives. Ask yourself, who am I faith for? Who, out of all these people, could I imagine coming to know Jesus? Perhaps you need to pray about this. They may not be friends or family. They may be neighbours, work colleagues, your doctor, milkman, or postman. But ask God who He's touching. If Jesus could do only what He saw his Father doing (John 5:19), we won't be able to do any more. "So Father, in whom, among all these, are You working?" As you find certain people coming to mind, write their names down, and start to pray for them. Use a Friendship Card if it helps. (There are some on the table by the door.)
Focus your prayers on the 2 or 3 that you're most in faith for.
Make sure your heart is right towards them.
Ask God to fill you with compassion for them.
Pray that the strongholds of pride, belief systems, satan's traps and schemes which are so enslaving, will be destroyed.
Ask the Lord to remove the veil from their eyes.
Pray for their wills to be free to make godly choices
Ask God to put godly people across their path.
Ask God to protect them and and for his Spirit to hover over them.
In the church we will try to have regular events where the gospel will be preached. The idea is that you will have lots of friends that you can invite to these events - and then who knows what God will do in their hearts.
We can encourage one another in the LG's. Ask around if people have testimonies of answered prayer; and who they're in faith for. We can offer suggestions about how to develop that friendship. Maybe a couple of you can meet up with this friend, and do something together you all enjoy. Remember, the friendship has to be genuine. Love has to be real, but it's in a context of love that God works. Look what happened with Jesus and Zacchaeus. Jesus cared enough to go and have a meal with him, and that was all he needed - genuine acceptance and friendship.
We need to remain pro-active in our evangelism. If we just wait for it to happen, we'll probably be waiting a long time! Jesus taught us, "Look, the fields are white for harvest.." There's a lot of people around us just longing for someone to tell them about Jesus. Don't wait for someone else to do it. Be ready. Always carry with you a copy of your personal tract, or a leaflet about King's Church. Be ready!
I want to say a word to those here who may not know Jesus yet. You've heard some of the inside workings today, but I want you to know it's because Jesus has changed our lives, and can change yours too - that we want to share with you, the best news that you'll ever hear - that God loves you, and wants to have you with Him in eternity. He thought you were worth dying for, which is what Jesus did on the cross - for all our wrong-doing, so that we could be forgiven, and have peace with God. All we're trying to do this morning is find the most effective way of telling you about this.
